DEATH BY STEREO

Party Prog? It's not a real party unless someone gets killed...

Well, if you're expecting a Mantis part two, you'll probably be disappointed with this album. But in a way Mantis is probably the least musically diverse album in the discography of Umphrey and Death By Stereo is more a return to form. It's a somewhat eclectic set of music performed by a talented set of musicians that fully embrace progressive rock traditions but not exclusively. So even those tracks which might not pass a prog purity test are fine in their own right.

The album starts off Miami Virture cruelly tries to trick you into turning the volume up because it starts out muddy and a little quiet before coming up to full volume. It sounds like a song that could be a radio/popular hit but who knows if it will?

Domino Theory, "well basically it's not what it seems. I've got my mind made up, made up. It's way too late to argue with me." Could be alt-rock.

Search 4 comes back to the Mantis spirit of things. Intense proggy opening, lots of changes.

Booth Love. Funky, kind of Steely Danish (Dan-ish). Funk me out.

The Floor. Intense instrumentally. Lyrics take a back seat somewhat. One of those songs that builds and then explodes musically. It does lay you gently on the floor for a little while.

Wellwishers. Back to the funkier side of things. Still has the prog edge.

Dim Sun. A brief acoustic guitar intermission.

Deeper. Sink in. It's like a funky comfy couch.

Conduit. Something a little more complex musically.

Hajimema[&*!#]e. Haven't been pronouncing the title right until I just typed it now (Haji-me-ma-sh(ee)ite awright?). "I didn't know things were supposed to be this way." Kind of oldest Allman Brothers like. A song for those of us aging and feeling weary. "It's alright was all I heard, this will pass away."

In the progosphere of things, good but not essential. Beyond those boundaries a nice set of tunes with several bones thrown in for the prog dog.

A big disappointment, because yeah, I was kind of expecting follow-up worthy of Mantis. The problem is that this album is trying to be many genres at once. But not your normal kind of "variable" (I would say Eclectic, but the term has specific meaning here on PA), but Death By Stereo takes this even further - almost as if each song was and needed to be different. That wouldn't be a problem per se, but the troubles begin when I cannot listen half of these songs because of it, they are simply unlistenable. Well, well, it's getting worse - there is a strong pop presence as well.

3(-), sadly.

Death By Boredom. After turning out their best album in "Mantis", UM decides to go with a simpler approach overall. "Search 4" is the only song worthy of being on "Mantis". The new thing is funk. It seems like they are overly enamored with it Songs like "Booth Love", "Deeper", and "Wellwishers" all fall victim of a bad attempt to get funky. A prog band still desperately trying to cling to their jam band roots. Move on, guys. "Conduit" had potential but it too fails due to another jam attempt.

I am very disappointed. I thought for sure UM was indeed progressing rather they are regressing and it isn't pretty. Apparently they couldn't handle being focused enough to crank out another prog epic like "Mantis" but at least we have that. 1.5 stars which I round up for no good reason.